Tough Mudder Run Resulted In Multiple Injuries

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 24: Participents take part in the Tough Mudder endurance event at Dalkieth Country Estate on August 24, 2013 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The world-famous Tough Mudder is military style endurance event over 10-12 miles with various obstacles around the course designed by Briish Special Forces. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)(Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

By Steve Tawa

Philadelphia (CBS) — A hardcore sporting event called the Tough Mudder near Allentown earlier this year spawned an alarming collection of serious injuries, according to emergency room doctors who responded.

Lead study author Dr. Marna Greenberg of Lehigh Valley Hospital says more than 100 participants received EMS help on scene, and 38 were transported to the emergency room.

“Probably the most unique injuries were those that were suffered from electrical obstacles,” said Greenberg.

Dr. Greenberg says no training can adequately prepare participants for some of the more than 20 obstacles on the course that included running or crawling through mud pits filled with dangling electrical wires.

“We published this paper to start the conversation about these extreme competitions and how these unusual injuries occurred,” she said.

The injuries included multiple burns, causing one patient’s heart muscle to become inflamed.

Another runner faced seizure-induced paralysis, and a few were disoriented in an altered mental state.

Dr. Greenberg has advice to those who might consider entering a Tough Mudder event, “The most likely to survive are those who chose to avoid the obstacles that can’t be trained for.”